You’re decorating your very first home or apartment, and the space is a little smaller than you would have liked. But since it’s your starter home, it doesn’t need to include three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths. There are simple and easy-to-do tricks to transform that small space to larger than life (or at least it will give the illusion).
Focal Walls
You can create a “destination” within your home by using a focal wall or vignette. Rich paint colors or bold, graphic wallpaper make a small room scream sophistication and boldness. While placing bold colors and bold patterns in a large room would make the room feel overwhelming, it is just right for a small room.
Bedroom Tips
To make your ceilings look higher and your bed look larger, use a canopy! This will give the illusion of a high ceiling and a large framed bed. To achieve this simple trick, use curtain rods positioned just below the ceiling: but make sure it’s framed above the bed on either side. Then hang simple fabric that’s loosely draped over the curtain rods.
With a small bedroom, use one bold piece of furniture to fill the room with character. Since the bed is the focal point to any bedroom, I suggest using a bold, graphic headboard using shabby-chic stencils, as seen on Better Homes and Gardens. Continue the look by adding accent pillows as well as a nice duvet cover that mimics the feel of the stencil on your headboard. Don’t be afraid to play around with colors!
Mirrors are Your Best Friend
Use mirrors to create depth. Better yet, devote a whole wall to mirrors of all shapes and sizes and add mirrored furniture to the small space to give the illusion there’s another room just beyond view. Have you noticed small restaurants like to use lots and lots of mirrors, and when you walk in your first thought is, “wow this place is big!” then realize it’s just all the mirrors? The same can be said about a small room with mirrors. Place some mirrors where there is a lot of natural light, so the mirror will reflect the light, amplifying the space.
For the Kitchen: Compact Your Wall Space
Taking a trip to Ikea or Home Depot could give your small kitchen some much needed space. By placing a variety of hanging shelves and wire baskets together on the wall, you are saving space and drawing a focal point to the room. These shelves and baskets provide more space than expected and allows you to focus and compact all your kitchen necessities together in one cohesive space.
Hang Pots and Pans From the Ceiling
Your workspace in the kitchen is sparse and you don’t have much cabinet space to store all your necessities, so finding a place to store all those big, bulky pots and pans can be tedious. For a simple improvement (that will also free up a lot of space) hang all your pots and pans on an overhead storage rack that hangs from the ceiling.
Less is More: Use Floor-to-Ceiling Shower Stalls
For that small bathroom, make your space feel cozy yet large with a floor-to-ceiling glass shower. If you had placed a tub and curtains up in the bathroom instead, it would have instantly cluttered up the space, making it look even smaller than it is. For some extra depth, use a tiled backsplash wall inside the shower with light tiled floor. Make the shower look large and inviting by always keeping the glass clean with window cleaner and a large squeegee.
Photo Credit: Apartment Therapy
Assess Your Furniture
If all your furniture is too large for small rooms, it’s not a good idea to try and cram all your beloved pieces of furniture. Opt for storing them or selling them to friends and family. The holidays are near so it might be a good option to donate your items as well. When your home is smaller, you want to avoid the overstuffed and oversized items and scale down. Find smaller furniture and remember to strive for balance in the room.
How did you decorate your small home or apartment? Let us know in the comments below!
